Translation from Tamil to English: Veeraswamy Krishnaraj
In the path of Paramācchāriāḷ
For Krishna Jayanthi (Birthday celebration of Krishna) many kinds of
snacks (Muṛukku, Sītai, Athirasam (See the pictures) are served.
SrīRāmar is Avatara of Mahavishnu. A devotee asked Periyava why these
snacks, drinks and seasoned buttermilk were served only for Krishna
Jayanthi.
Rāmar is the son of a king and can have Laddu and Mysorepak (sweets) on
demand.
When he was depressed because of
separation from Sita, eating snacks was farthest in his mind. With the
monkey troops in thousands, preparation of these snacks would be too
demanding.
He is Swami. You may ask won’t the snacks appear magically just on
thought. Rāmar came down to earth as the son of Daśaratha.
Ramar was in a dire situation with the abduction of Sita. Though
you may have a huge house and a car and if you impersonate a beggar, you
must go begging. If you are
fabulously rich but refuse to carry a begging bowl in your impersonation
of a beggar, all the assembled people would laugh.
Krishnan is a cowherd. He had many friends. Yasoda can make refreshments
for them. His birth was rare and phenomenal. He had no siblings before
and after him. He had his job cut out for him: Killing the ogress and
demons like Sakatasuran, Tirunāvarththan… He should not shirk his duty
thinking he is the Yādhava god. Krishnan was in a unique position as a
child that entailed asking for snacks, steal butter and had a compulsion
to bring himself and others to a familiar social milieu.
Rāmar’s dealings is not like that. Daśaratha maintained feeding stations
announced by the flapping food-flags.
To prevent sunstroke, ginger-jaggery drinks were served. That is
the secret of the refreshment. Dilute butter milk prevents gastric and
intestinal discomfort. It does not add to empty calories or contribute
to obesity. It provides relief from thirst. Dilute buttermilk was the
refreshment for Rāmar wandering in the forest.
Rāmar did only one mischief or faux pas. He made mud balls and sun-dried
them, so he could launch them with his slingshot.
Mandarai (Manthara) the maid-servant of Kaikeyi had a fat hunchback.
Child Rama had fun launching the mud ball missiles with great accuracy
with slingshot on the Mandari’s hunchback. This is the forerunner and
seed of Ravana’s killing. If not for the slingshots, the enmity of
Mandarai would not have sprouted and grown. Would the abused Mandarai
have offered her wrong advice to stepmother Kaikeyi? Would Rāmar, who
undertook destruction of the evil doer, have caused trouble to Mandarai?
(Mandari might have held a grudge against Rama because Rama as a child
launched slingshots at her hunchback. Mandari asked Kaikeyi to demand
King Dasaratha to fulfil two boons he promised before. Kaikeyi demanded
that her son Bharatha be installed as the king and Rama [the rightful
heir] be banished to forest for 14 years.) Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda of Ramayana (pronounced as Shuda, cuda, and wuda) Shoulda = should have
The next mistake Rāmar made was to stay in hiding and shot an arrow on
Vāli. Ravana abducted Sita.
It should be impressed on the world that going a long distance without
help must never be done.
Dasaratha died of broken heart (because of Rama's exile). Would not
Bharata come with the military if a message was sent to Ayodhya? Rama
could have gone to Vāli and told him, “You took and restricted Ravana in
your armpit, visited the four oceans for worship of Siva.” Rama could
have told Vāli that Ravana abducted Sita. Ravana seeing Vāli would have
released Sita (simply because Vāli earlier tied up Ravana’s 20 hands
with his tail, held his head in his armpit for challenging him during
his worship of Siva and tied him up as a hanging crib toy to amuse
Aṅgada his (Vāli’s) infant son.
Ramāvathāra took place to kill
Ravana and his ilk and reduce the evil weighing down the earth.
That is why Rama went to Sugriva. He feared half his strength would go
Vāli, if he engaged him directly. That was the reason Rama hid behind
the tree and shot his arrow at Vāli. Besides, Vāli forcibly took the
wife of his twin brother Sugriva.
Vāli never allowed Sugriva to talk and explain himself but chased
him away. Though mistakes have been made, opponent should be given a
voice. It is Dharma to punish the transgressor. In this way, Vāli had
multiple holes (fallacies, flaws, defects) in his arguments and deeds.
How could water stay in a pot with holes? |